Play-off joy for Fife Steel's senior men

Fife Steel rounded off the season in style

Held at the Oriam Sports Complex in Edinburgh, both teams made a cagey start with few points scored in the first three minutes and multiple shot clock violations.

Things settled down about the halfway point of the quarter and, following a 6-9 lead for Steel at the five minute mark, buckets started pouring in with an energetic finish to the quarter and Steel gaining a single point lead, going into the second quarter at 13-14.

The game continued to be well contested by both sides but Steel increased their lead slightly by two points, taking the quarter 18 to 16 with the score at 29-32 on the halftime buzzer.

The final points of the half were scored by Logan Tocher and saw him capitalise on a fast break for the lay-up, getting fouled in the process and earning a free throw for a three point play. Unfortunately, Logan missed the free throw.

The second half was a different story with Steel hitting nine points without reply, the first of which was an almost carbon copy of the last play of the second quarter.

Heriot Watt, the regular season Division 2 champions, had little in response to Steel’s electric pace and dominance under the basket and could muster only six points to Steel’s 12, ending the quarter with the score at 35-44.

Opening with a nine-point lead in the fourth4th, Steel kept the pace up and increased that lead to 15 points before Heriot Watt could get numbers up on the board again.

Both sides were looking tired by the half-way point of the final quarter and Heriot Watt had nothing left to give in trying and claw back the strong lead Steel had created.

With the quarter at 5-12 and the total score at 40-56 at the buzzer, Fife Steel Senior Men were crowned Division 2 play-off champions.

Though it is not an automatic promotion in winning the play-offs, it is likely that the senior men will be playing Division 1 basketball next season.

Top scorer on the day was Logan Tocher with 26 points, Konor Grieve led the pack in rebounds with 13 and Ian Hildersley, as he has most of the season, gifting teammates points with 11 assists.